Candid (True Images Series)

by Michelle Pennington

  “Can’t you try trusting me?”

  “I trust you as much as my parents trusted me and as much as I trusted myself at your age – which turned out to be too much. I know you want to do what’s right, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with. And I’m concerned that you’re suddenly antagonistic over this.”

  “I didn’t know Lee before. With other guys, I could see your point, but Lee is different.”

  “That’s easy to say.”

  “Just because you think all men are creeps, doesn’t mean they are.”

  “I didn’t say that,” my mom said quietly. She was pensive for a moment before she continued. “In fact, I know there are a lot of really good men out there. But Lee is still a boy and you’re too young to tell the difference anyway. And before you argue, remember I was your age once, and I know what I’m talking about.”

  We only lived a few blocks from the school so by this point, we were pulling into the driveway. As the car came to a stop, I said, “Mom, you have forgotten one thing. I am not you and Lee is not Bruce McGuire.”

  Mom flinched again as she always did when I said my father’s name. I didn’t wait for her to respond before I got out of the car and hobbled into the house. Maybe I would be able to solve all my problems with a little meditation in a very hot bath. Whether I could or not, that’s where I was heading.

  I was pretty sure which guy she didn’t consider a creep. I just wished that she could see that Lee and Mr. Greeley - or Alex as she called him- had something in common there.

  *****

  My car was a clunker. It was always a relief when I made it where I was going without breaking down. The only reason my mom let me drive it at all was that I only drove it to school and work, which were both just minutes from our house. Knowing what I was going to have to deal with today made me wish that for once it had done what it had been threatening to do for months. Yes, today would have been the perfect day for it to crumble into a broken, choking heap of rusted metal.

  It was Monday morning and I reluctantly pulled into the school parking lot. I was torn between excitement and embarrassment to see Lee getting out of his car. He saw me and walked over to meet me as I parked. Great, I had waited all weekend to see him again, but did it have to be now?

  “Nice car,” he teased as I got out.

  “Thanks,” I replied, sarcasm heavy in my voice as I flung my backpack over my shoulder. “Your truck isn’t exactly new.”

  “No, but at least it doesn’t make such an awful racket. How is that thing still going?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, eyeing it with distaste, “But it just won’t die.”

  We walked together towards the school’s main entrance and Lee adjusted his stride to match my slow steps. I was still limping slightly.

  “How does your ankle feel?”

  “Not too bad. I think it will be good to walk around on it today. It’s mostly just stiff.”

  “I’m glad it’s better. I wondered how you were doing all weekend, but I didn’t have your number.”

  “Oh. I thought you were just a creep who didn’t care.” His horrified look was priceless, but I hurried to put him out of his misery. “I’m teasing. I knew you didn’t have it.”

  “I was going to ask you for it before the game was over Friday night, but then you almost got run over and your mom was there. I couldn’t ask for your number in front of her.”

  “Yeah, I know. Want it now?”

  “Hold on,” Lee said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. After a moment he said, “Ok, what is it?”

  As I was giving him my number, I saw that a group of girls were blocking the sidewalk ahead. With a sense of dread, I realized that they were totally hacked off and that they were waiting for me. They were all cheerleaders, which didn’t surprise me after what had happened over the weekend, but did they have to do this in front of Lee? On the other hand, I was sure he would keep them from jumping me and beating me to a bloody pulp, so it was probably a good thing he was here.

  “Great, thanks,” Lee said, putting his phone away. Then he realized that I was walking even slower and he looked up to see the pack of angry girls in our way. “Uh, why do they all look like they want you dead?”

  “Well, probably because of a picture I put on my blog this weekend.”

  He raised his eyebrows and said, “Really? I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

  I stopped and Lee moved to stand between me and my impending doom, shielding me from the venom in their eyes. “You saw my blog?”

  “Of course. But what made those girls so mad?”

  “Well, they’re all cheerleaders. Didn’t you notice that my picture wasn’t exactly flattering for them? I didn’t think they’d like it, but I had no idea it would cause this kind of craziness. I just wanted to use my photo to show that Katie doesn’t fit the cheerleader cliché, but I didn’t actually say anything on my blog except one caption that said, “Brains vs Booty-shaking.”

  “Yeah, I thought it was funny. But I guess they didn’t think so, huh?”

  “No. But I think the real problem started when people started posting comments like, ‘Cheerleaders are dumber than doorknobs.’ Then some moronic boys got on and said stuff like, ‘I don’t care how smart a girl is as long as she looks good in a short skirt.’ Things went downhill from there.”

  “Whoa… I didn’t see any of that. I’m surprised you came to school today.”

  “I thought about staying home, but I have to face it sometime. I might as well get it over with.” Lee looked over his shoulder at the girls still waiting behind him, and I quietly added, “Besides, I wanted to see you.”

  His head whipped around and when our eyes met, the expression in his made it hard to breathe. His eyebrows were raised and his expression was at once thoughtful and pleased. “Good to know. Come on, I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t get your pretty blue eyes scratched out.”

  Brittany Steele was in front, with a few of her groupies close behind, but Jordan was nowhere around. When we were a few feet away from them, Lee said, “Would you ladies, excuse us, please?” There was a tiny hint of sarcasm when he said “ladies” that almost surprised a nervous giggle out of me.

  Brittany must have sensed my amusement however. “Something funny?” she asked me, her eyes boring into mine. When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “You just think you’re hilarious, don’t you?”

  I shrugged and found my voice behind the knot of tension in my throat. “I wasn’t trying to be funny. I just asked a question. If the answers I got bother you, that’s your problem, not mine.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s very much your problem.”

  “What are you going to do? Beat me up because of what a few anonymous people said?”

  “Yeah right. Like I don’t know you said those things.”

  “Actually I didn’t. I’m not the only one in this school that’s noticed you always come in second – whether in cheerleading, boyfriends, or being the biggest witch in school.” Lee made a choking sound beside me, but I had gone beyond being cautious now.

  Brittany’s glare morphed into a smirk that scared the heck out of me. “Whatever. Just take that picture down or things will get real bad for you, real quick.”

  “Well, I’m definitely scared now. But you know what? I don’t think I’ll take it down. How about if you drop it, and I make sure you don’t show up in any more pictures on my blog?”

  “You won’t be able to take anymore pictures with your fingers broken.”

  “You know, I’m surprised Jordan isn’t here with you. Oh wait, you don’t you mind doing her dirty work, do you? Anything to stay popular. Personally, I would get tired of being used all the time.”

  A second later, I was really grateful for Lee’s quick reflexes. He grabbed Brittany’s open hand right before it connected with my face.

  This, of course, made Brittany livid. Quick as a flash, she struck Lee with her other hand, leaving a
bright red hand print across his jaw. Lee didn’t even flinch, but his eyes narrowed with anger as he looked down at her. Brittany wasn’t done taking shots at him though.

  “Too bad you turned out to be a total loser, Lee. Jordan had plans for you, but you’ve screwed that up.”

  Lee started laughing then, totally surprising me. “That’s awesome. I’ve been hoping she’d get the hint.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not surprised when I see you’re into nerd girl here. I’ll have to make sure her mommy knows.”

  The first bell rang then, and Brittany smirked at us one more time before she and the silent puppets behind her turned and left. I turned anxiously to Lee and gently touched the welt on his jaw. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t want to drag you into this.”

  “Don’t worry, I invited myself. Besides, I’d far rather have her slap me than you. Can you tell me something though? Did you accidentally hit your self-destruct button or something? You don’t seem the type to stir up all this drama.”

  “I didn’t think I was either, and this is starting to scare me. I knew I might make a few people mad, but the reality is harder to face than I thought. Girls are scary.”

  “Yes, they are,” Lee agreed as he pulled on my hand and prompted me to start walking. “Especially my home room teacher, so let’s get moving before we’re late. And while we’re on the subject, how long do you think I have before your mom starts hunting for me?”

  “Probably till after school. She wouldn’t try anything on campus. Oh, and Lee?”

  “Yes?”

  “She has a concealed weapon permit.”

  “Of course she does,” he replied, sounding resigned. “My mom always warned me that girls could get me in trouble, but I thought I’d have to do something more than hold hands with one.”

  Chapter 7

  Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the story to get around school. Of course the story most people heard made Brittany look like some kind of righteous goddess and made me look like a jealous schemer. Since Brittany and her friends were the only ones telling the story, I expected it to get exaggerated and twisted around, but it still bugged me. I told Marisol, Parker, and a few other friends what really happened, hoping that the truth would get around. I didn’t really expect it to have much impact though.

  I was worried that Lee would catch flak from his friends over the handprint on his cheek, but they all seemed to regard it as a badge of honor or something. They also all seemed to decide that I must be worth getting slapped for.

  It was crazy to have guys who’d never looked twice at me coming up to talk, flirting with me in the hall, and racing to sit by me in class. As I sat in my usual spot to eat lunch, several guys came over and asked if I wanted to eat with them in the cafeteria.

  “Uh, no thanks. I’m good,” I said holding up my turkey sandwich and can of tomato juice.

  I expected them to give up easily, but they didn’t. One of them was a guy named Michael Fine- and believe me, he totally lived up to his name. He sat down next to me, curled an arm around my shoulders and leaned close. “Why don’t you come eat with me? I think we should get to know each other better.”

  When had he put his hand on my knee?

  Nothing like this had ever happened to me. I was kind of mesmerized - caught in a fog of charm, expensive cologne, and husky voice goodness. A distant part of me was aware that I wasn’t really attracted to him, but another part of me was responding to his well-honed seduction skills.

  “Hey, man, that’s enough. Why don’t you go put the moves on someone else now?” Lee’s voice cleared the fog like bright sunlight. He wasn’t sounding especially sunny however.

  “What’s your deal? I thought you said she wasn’t your girlfriend.”

  There was frustration in Lee’s expression, but mostly he just looked dangerous. “I said not officially, and anyway, that doesn’t mean she wants you touching her.”

  This was a side of him I’d never seen before and I was fascinated by it. The last thing I wanted though was for him to get into a fight with one of his teammates, so I brushed Michael’s hand away and said, “I can’t date anybody, but if I could, it would be Lee.” I shrugged and hoped he would take the hint that he wasn’t wanted.

  Michael looked at me with smoldering, confident eyes. “I could change your mind about that, but I’ll leave it for now. I’ll be seeing you.”

  He got up and moved away. Lee stood watching him leave with his arms folded across his chest. A couple of the other guys left with him, but one stayed behind. He was shorter than Lee and small framed with carrot colored hair that curled in an unruly mess over his forehead. I didn’t know who he was, but Lee obviously did.

  “Not you too, Will?”

  The guy looked startled and instantly began denying any involvement. “What? No! I’d never move in on your girl, even if I could. I was just hanging out. I figured you’d show up around here sometime and I wanted to talk to you.”

  Lee’s posture relaxed and he dropped down onto the bench beside me. He took a sandwich out of his backpack and asked, “What’s up?”

  “I saw you wrote the story about Friday’s game in the school paper.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I was just going to say, if you ever, um, need help with that, I wouldn’t mind.”

  He’d caught Lee’s attention now. “Really? If you like that kind of thing, why didn’t you join the staff?”

  “I can’t take journalism because of my schedule. Since I moved in from another state, I have to take a lot of classes to meet the graduation requirements here. They’re different here than at my last school.”

  “Yeah, I had that problem too. Tell you what; I’ll let you know if I ever get in a bind. I’ll talk to Mr. Greeley about it too.”

  “Thanks. Hey, I’ll see you at practice later, ok?”

  “Yeah, see you then.”

  When Will was out of hearing, I asked, “He plays basketball?”

  Lee grinned at the disbelief in my voice. “What, doesn’t he look like an athlete to you? Actually, he’s got some mad ball handling skills. He’s a little on the small side, but I’ve got Coach about half convinced that he should be our point guard. Will’s working his butt off for the job too.”

  “Well, I hope he gets it. He seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is - much nicer than Michael Fine.” He popped open a can of soda he’d brought with him and added, “You should stay away from that guy.”

  This irritated me a little. “Look, he followed me over here. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Tell him that you aren’t interested. Unless of course, you are?”

  “Hardly. What’s going on? You seem really on edge.”

  Lee sighed. “Sorry. It’s not easy seeing other guys drooling all over you and not be able to do anything about it.”

  “You seemed to manage ok with Michael.”

  “Yeah, but for how long? Until the next time he catches you alone? I mean, this just being friends thing was bad enough before, but now that almost every guy on my team is after you, it’s going to drive me crazy.”

  “What’s the deal with that, anyway? They’ve never paid any attention to me before.”

  “I don’t know. From some of the things they’ve been saying all morning, they’ve been checking you out for a while. I guess it’s kind of like herd mentality. If one guy likes a girl, they all want her.”

  “Well, relax. I don’t want any of them, and they’ll all forget about me again in a few days. But that isn’t the only thing that’s crazy. I’ve been getting evil looks and trash talk from cheerleaders all day long. I should be a total social leper right now, but I’m not. I’ve had people I barely know treating me like their best friend all day.”

  “That’s how fickle people are.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s crazy how easy it was to change the status quo around here, even if it is temporary.”

  “Just remember it can swing the other way too. And have yo
u seen Katie Edwards today? She’s walking around like she wants to be invisible.”

  I grimaced. “Really? I guess she’s getting crap from the other cheerleaders too, huh?”

  Lee nodded before adding, “And Jordan is parading Tyson around like he’s some kind of prize bull.”

  “Tyson is dating Jordan?”

  Lee nodded. “Apparently they started going out over the weekend. I’m not sure if it’s to make me jealous or you, but it’s pretty obvious that she’s using him.”

  “Dang it. I’ve caused more problems than I’ve solved.”

  “What problems are you trying to solve, anyway? That some people aren’t popular and you think they should be? Trust me. Being popular can suck.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said dryly. “I’m a nerd, remember?”

  Lee eyed me from head to toe, and said, “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve seen my crazy hair and lame style.”

  “If you don’t like your style, why don’t you change it?”

  “I like it fine. I just meant that I’m not the popular type."

  “That’s ridiculous. You think popularity is all about image…what people think of you – but it’s more than that. It’s what you think of yourself. People can read that, you know. You’re absolutely gorgeous and you don’t seem to know it – or anyway, you don’t want anyone else to notice.”

  Lee had just said I was gorgeous, which was incredibly wonderful, but this whole conversation was making me really uncomfortable. “Is this supposed to be a pep-talk or a therapy session?”

  “What? Did that hit a little too close to home?”

  “Look, if you really want to know why I don’t wear much make up or new clothes or get my hair styled, it’s because I would rather spend the little money I earn on my photography. I thought that stuff didn’t matter to you, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “No, you weren’t. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just trying to figure out why they don’t matter to you. You’re so focused and driven and responsible. Do you ever do fun, normal things?”